Lesson 7 of 10
The Seventh Amendment: Civil Juries
Why the Founders wanted citizens, not only judges, to decide lawsuits.
The text
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
That the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, and no religious or political test shall ever be required as a qualification for jurors.
The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate in criminal cases; but a jury in civil cases in all courts, or in criminal cases in courts not of record, may consist of less than twelve persons, as may be prescribed by law. Hereafter a grand jury shall consist of twelve persons, any nine of whom concurring may find an indictment; provided, the general assembly may change, regulate or abolish the grand jury system; and provided, further, the right of any person to serve on any jury shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex, and the general assembly may provide by law for the exemption from jury service of persons or classes of persons.
What it plainly means
In federal civil lawsuits of the kind historically heard by common-law courts (contracts, injuries, property and the like), where more than twenty dollars is at stake, either side may insist on a jury. Facts found by a jury cannot be second-guessed by a federal judge except as the common law allowed.
History and the Founders' intent
The original Constitution guaranteed juries in criminal cases (Article III) but said nothing about civil ones. The Anti-Federalists made that silence one of their loudest objections, and several ratifying conventions demanded a civil-jury guarantee. To the Founders, juries were a structural safeguard: twelve citizens could refuse to let a powerful party, including the government, use the courts to oppress a neighbor. Jefferson wrote to Thomas Paine from Paris on July 11, 1789, that he considered trial by jury "the only anchor, ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of it's constitution" (spelling as in the original).
Key Supreme Court cases
- Minneapolis & St. Louis R. Co. v. Bombolis, 241 U.S. 211 (1916): the Seventh Amendment does not bind the states.
- Colgrove v. Battin, 413 U.S. 149 (1973): six-person juries are permitted in federal civil cases.
- SEC v. Jarkesy, 603 U.S. 109 (2024): when the SEC seeks civil penalties for securities fraud, "the Seventh Amendment entitles the defendant to a jury trial"; the agency cannot route such a case to its own in-house judges (6-3).
What it means for you today
If you are sued, or you sue, in federal court over money damages, you can demand a jury of citizens. Jarkesy also limits the SEC's power to impose fraud penalties without one, and its reasoning may reach other agencies. In state court the Seventh Amendment does not apply, so state law controls. Tennessee's constitution says trial by jury "shall remain inviolate" (Article I, Section 6). Colorado is different: its Article II, Section 23 keeps the jury "inviolate in criminal cases" only, and the Colorado Supreme Court has long held there is no state constitutional right to a civil jury (Garhart v. Columbia/HealthONE, L.L.C., No. 02SA182 (Colo. June 28, 2004), reaffirming Scholz v. Metropolitan Pathologists, P.C., 851 P.2d 901 (Colo. 1993), and earlier cases such as Kaitz v. District Court, 650 P.2d 553 (Colo. 1982)). Civil juries there are provided by court rule (C.R.C.P. 38), and the legislature may also provide them by statute.
Check your understanding
This lesson is educational and is not legal advice. Laws and procedures change; confirm current rules with the official sources linked above.